ROURKELA: Rebel BJP candidate in Rourkela Assembly constituency and the party’s state executive committee member Nihar Ray was expelled from the party by state president Manmohan Samal.
Nihar has been contesting against BJP’s official nominee and former Union Minister Dilip Ray. The expulsion order was issued by BJP’s state general secretary (organisation) Manas Mohanty on Tuesday. Nihar along with 11 others were expelled from BJP in Odisha for contesting against official nominees and for anti-party activities.
In a separate development, Monalisa Kujur, daughter-in-law of former Congress MP of Sundargarh Late Maurice Kujur on Wednesday joined BJP at a party programme held at Sundargarh town in the presence of BJP’s Sundargarh Lok Sabha candidate and incumbent MP Jual Oram and Sundargarh Assembly seat candidate and sitting MLA Kusum Tete.
Meanwhile, in the run-up to the simultaneous general elections for Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituency and seven Assembly seats under it on May 20 a leaderless Congress continues to bleed as more than 200 members on Thursday joined the BJD at Rourkela in the presence of Rourkela Assembly seat candidate of BJD and minister Sarada Prasad Nayak.
Former Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) general secretary Biren Senapati was among those who joined the regional outfit.